Inevitabilities

[Cptn Corizon 0]

Rain had started falling in the cool September afternoon. In his cottage in the mountains above Tokyo not far from the shores of Lake Okutama, Ah-Windu Corizon stood at the island in the center of his kitchen dicing onions while odon noodles boiled in chicken stock behind him.

"Making dinner I see?"

Corizon turned, his ears lifted. It took quite the feat to catch him off guard, especially in his own home. He was perhaps even more startled to see Admiral Keri Staunton leaning against the framed doorway with a slight smile upon her face.

"I hope you don't mind the intrusion," she said.

"Of course not," he said, putting the knife down and wiping his hands clean on a rag before straightening into attention.

"At ease, Captain. No need to stand on formality. I was never officially here."

Corizon's posture eased slightly, but his ears stood at attention. "Of course. Dinner will be ready soon, if you want to stay. Can I get you something to drink?"

She smirked. She'd never thought of Corizon being a host. You learn something new.

"Thank you," she said, "but I don't have a whole lot of time. I have an early morning meeting back at HQ in a few hours, not to mention I am fairly well adjusted to it being midnight right now."

"Of course," he said, having almost forgot the time differences.

"That smells wonderful, though. I am sure your detail enjoys it. I bet most of them have never had real meals."

He smirked. "They seem to be fairly appreciative. I don't have a replicator so I feel rather obligated."

"I hear they also appreciated your sake collection."

Grinning widely, showing his fangs, Corizon leaned back against the counter top. Coyly he feigned ignorance. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh," she said. "I've already read the report. The poor lieutenant was scared witless that he was going to be road out on rails the next morning."

Laughing he shook his head. "And?"

"Commander Cotyle informed the Lieutenant that when a ranking officer offers you and your detail the opportunity to raid his personal collection of real alcohol that refusing such an offer is grounds for a court martial."

"I've always been a bad influence.

"I mean," he said a little more soberly. "That's why we're here aren't we?"

Exhalling, she nodded again. Though she wouldn't consider him a friend, she'd known of the Captain for some years; her son had even had him as an academy instructor, as had, she noted, numerous other officers now working their way up through the ranks. Nothing about this was pleasant, she supposed, and despite the cordiality, they both knew why she was darkening his doorway.

"I suppose so, yes."

"Let's be honest," he said pushing off the counter. "If it had just been me. If I had just gone off on my own on a wild little adventure, we wouldn't be having this conversation, would we?"

Pausing for a long moment to consider her response, she finally nodded. "Given your position with ATAG, the authority invested in that position, the people you know, your service record, the situation... likely not, no. You might get a dressing down from your superiors... but no."

"And that's where I screwed myself, isn't it... not doing this alone."

She frowned. She didn't want to admit that. "Yes and no... Ah-Windu."

He lifted his ears.

"On one hand yes," she said, "you'd have been better off doing this damned mission alone, but you shouldn't embark on such missions in the first place."

She held up a hand. "I know, I know. It's the nature of the beast. You and people like you operate in the shadows. You do what you do, so the rest of us don't have to... it doesn't make it right."

"I know," he said softly. "I wish... I wish that I didn't have to do it. I wish that Starfleet had cared about the situation enough to deal with it through regular channels."

"But they didn't," she said flatly. "And there will be a price for those in command who covered for people involved."

"Will there?"

She produced a PADD and tossed it to him.

"What's this?"

"A list of people who will be submitting their resignation over the course of the next several months."

He read it over, his eyes dancing as he came across several names he expected, and some he didn't. "How..."

"Admiral Fozzolo and Vice-Admiral Abronvonvich provided your reports to my office. The President has also been doing some house cleaning and some investigating of her own. It's not a complete list by any means, and I suspect that the individuals ultimately responsible for this fracas will escape justice--but it's a start."

Corizon again put his weight against the counter. "This makes me feel a little better. Thank you. My biggest worry was that well.. well with everything that has happened."

"That this would be swept under the rug?"

"Yes."

She nodded. "I want you to know that the President herself has been involved with this and I can personally tell you that she wasn't going to just let this go."

"If I may ask..."

"Yes?"

"If you intended to do this all above the table," he said. "Why did you let Tauris Dalton run the operation?"

"I didn't," she said firmly. "It was a compromise."

"Ah."

"The individuals involved agreed to resign quietly and cooperate with the investigation if we left Tauris depose you."

Skeptically, "And that's all they asked for?"

She smirked. "You should know better than that. Whether or not they get it..."

"Hmm?"

"Listen," she said, "I respect you. I don't agree with your methods, but I respect you. As head of the Board of Inquiry I shouldn't even be here, but I am. You're a decorated officer who's given his entire life to the Federation. You've made mistakes, some of them bigger than others. But then we've all made mistakes. And you deserve to know ahead of time what's going to happen when you go before the Board of Inquiry in two days."

He nodded respectfully.

"You're guilty. You've admitted your guilt, and we all know it. You know it, we know it, the whole Federation knows it. The Romulans certainly know it."

Again, he nodded. "I know."

"The Board is going to rule against you. We don't have any choice. We're doing this the right way, but we're also not going to throw you to the wolves so Intelligence can cover its' ass."

He nodded, again. "I appreciate that."

"The Board is going to recommend a court-martial on charges of dereliction of duty and violation of intergalactic treaty.

"You will, of course, be found guilty."

"And my crew?"

"Frankly," she said. "They should be strung up their ears. But its understandable how this happened. You should never have been in command of these people in the first place. You should never have been in command of a starship.

"We both know that. Your ability to lead people combined with your willingness to disobey rules and regulations whenever it suits might have made you a hero a hundred years ago, but this isn't a hundred years ago and you're not Jim Kirk."

Corizon smirked, only slightly; it was a comparison he'd not really considered.

"And what about my crew?"

"You crew," she said sternly. "Should be shaken within an inch of their lives for going along with this, but you and I both know that this isn't their fault."

"Yeah," he said. "I've said I should take full responsibility..."

Staunton held up a hand to stop him. "Well... that's really what I came here about Ah-Windu..."